London 2012 Olympics: After a nomadic career, Pops Mensah-Bonsu is ready to give his all for his home nation

The prospect of tackling the best players from the NBA when they muster as the
'Dream Team' would terrify most but Great Britain's Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who
has chased his own NBA dream for nearly a decade, can't wait for Thursday's
game against the USA in Manchester.

Big dunker: Pops Mensah-Bonsu thinks Team GB can spring a few surprises in LondonPhoto: STANDARD LIFE

The Londoner has played 61 NBA games for five teams but has never quite secured the long-term contract he has craved. Now at the age of 28 perhaps he never will – which, given the mindset of most sportsmen, is all the more reason to shine in the up-coming Olympics warm-up game.

"The USA are obviously superior to everybody else in the world game but they can only play five guys on the court at any one time," says Mensah-Bonsu who went to America aged 14 on a basketball scholarship.

"They tie their shoes the same way as us, they pull their trousers on the same way, they bleed just like we do and they go to the bathroom just like we have to. As a sportsman and opponent you have to look at them as just another five guys.

"There is no point in playing against them unless you are there to compete. I am going into the USA game thinking 'Hope they are ready to play' because that will bring the best out of us. We want to let them know that British basketball is here and don't come thinking you will come over here and automatically run us over.

"We are up against it but we have a solid team and we will compete. Luol Dengis an NBA All-Star and one of the most underrated players in the league, I've played NBA, Rob Archibald has played NBA and Joel Freeland has just signed for the Portland Trailblazers.

"Come the Olympics I believe we can surprise a few teams, but in the meantime I'm looking for us to be inspired by the occasion and the opposition and for the team to reach a new level. It's also a massive staging post for Great Britain basketball. Starting from nowhere five or six years ago we are playing the greatest team in the world at a packed arena in Manchester on the eve of the our own Olympics. That's a celebration."

The 6ft 8in Mensah-Bonsu might have just have missed out on the fame and fortune a long NBA career can provide and the unforgiving critics and scouts will tell you that occasionally his shooting can let him down but in terms of raw athleticism he is the equal of anybody in the USA team – LeBron James, Kobe Bryant et al.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu – More clubs than Jack Nicklaus

2006-07: Fort Worth Flyers (NBA)

2006-07: Dallas Mavericks (NBA)

2007-08: Benetton Treviso (Italy)

2008: CB Granada (Spain)

2008: Joventut Badalona (Spain)

2008-9: San Antonio Spurs (NBA)

2008-9: Toronto Raptors (NBA)

2009-10: Houston Rockets (NBA)

2009-10: Toronto Raptors (NBA)

2010: CSKA Moscow (Russia)

2010-11: New Orleans Hornets (NBA)

2011: ASVEL Basket (France)

2011-12: Besiktas (Turkey)

At the age of 16 and off the back of six weeks coaching at St Augustine High School in New Jersey during the basketball off-season he was a 7ft 1inch high jumper and to this day insists that track and field is his first love. When Deng isn't listening, Mensah-Bonsu loves to tell the story of how at high school in the USA he would be competing against his future GB basketball colleague and would casually enter the competition at 6ft 2in or 6ft 3in, the height at which Deng, more of a 400m runner, would crash out

An elastic frame and a 39in standing jump has made Mensah-Bonsu one of the most spectacular slam dunkers in the world game and the internet is littered with montages of his best 'jams' over the years. Just about every poster for GB men's basketball will feature Mensah-Bonsu flying through the air – he is box office and that spring-heeled ability also sees him drag down more rebounds than is decent for a player of his comparatively modest 6ft 8in height

The son of Ghanaian parents – to his continuing amusement his name translates literally as chief well-slayer – Mensah-Bonsu arrives back in London off the back of his best season in a long while, helping Turkish club Besiktas to a domestic double and a EuroChallenge Cup final victory when he was voted the Most Valuable Player. Initially he eased his way back into action after eight months out with a shoulder injury and then overcame an eye injury – he had to wear goggles for a while when playing – before he hit his straps in spectacular style.

"It's a very strong league in Turkey, as much depth as the ACB in Spain and looking back we had an attitude shift mid-season," he says. "We started training even harder than we played, we upped the intensity in everything we did and it paid dividends.

Ideally Mensah-Bonsu would remain with Besiktas but the withdrawal of a sponsor and the move of their coach to great rivals Galatasaray has thrown the club into turmoil again. Not for the first time he is considering his options but this time he is looking largely to Europe not the NBA.

"I am very competitive and perhaps I chased it too hard in the NBA," he admits. "Also it might be cliché but a lot of it is political in the NBA. I just couldn't settle for being second best and that's why I sometimes didn't last the whole season with clubs. I couldn't settle for being the 15th man (reserve) in the squad. It was a role I was neither willing, or experienced enough, to play.

"I would be aggressive and try and earn my spot when I should have been patient, waited for the second half of the season and perhaps got a run when I could have proved myself.

"But when you lose out you must never lose a lesson and if I end my playing career in Europe I am totally fine with that. I have enjoyed a great season in Turkey and love the lifestyle that Europe offers. I am still ambitious and if I continue to play in Europe I want to be the best player in Europe but first comes the blessing of an Olympics in my home city."